2 charged in connection with pipe bomb found behind Wisconsin business

Two men have been charged in connection with a pipe bomb that was found in western Wisconsin, and were caught when police discovered them scavenging chips from a trash bin.

A bomb squad was called in to detonate a "homemade incendiary device" in a parking lot behind the Roberts Frito Lay plant on Tuesday, March 10.

The device was found after police discovered two men taking discarded chips from a trash bin in the lot at 203 Packer Drive just before 2 a.m., according to the Pioneer Press.

The newspaper reports Mark William Ellestad, 38, and Rob Wayne Graves, 48, both of River Falls, have been charged with felony possession of a handmade explosive and felony possession of meth.

The River Falls Journal notes they have also been hit with a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, and remained in jail this week on $5,000 bail.

The device discovered by officers was a "mag-light"-style flashlight, which contained a wire wrapped in plastic, the newspaper notes. A nickel coin was placed near the lens and black powder was found inside.

A 17-year-old St. Charles boy is charged with possession of an incendiary/explosive device and discharge of a firearm or dangerous weapon endangering public safety, Winona Daily News reports. The teen is accused of making a pipe bomb that was discovered in his mother's trunk last week while he was a patient at the hospital in Rochester. Authorities say the 3-foot-long device weighed about 50 pounds with gunpowder and fireworks.